Should I make formal complaint - breach of confidentiality by funeral director staff

GaleSF63

Why someone wants a private funeral and whether people think they should have/shouldn't have is beside the point.

The funeral directors were asked to be discreet and one of them wasn't. It could have been a mistake (he wasn't told); he could have forgotten; or he might have thought it didn't matter after the funeral had taken place. A bit unprofessional, but it happened as was wanted, so although it may be a bit annoying that someone slipped up, no harm was done really.

When you are grieving little things can take on giant proportions. I remember going into Tesco after my husband died and they didn't have what I went in for. I left the shop almost in a panic, and stood on the pavement not knowing what to do next. Feeling that someone (funeral firm) have let you down will be much more important than my loaf of bread or whatever it was from Tesco.

coolcait

lavandergirl wrote: »

Would data protection apply if the person is already deceased?

Indeed.


Which begs the question - from a purely legal point of view - to what extent are funeral/remembrance events completely 'private'?


Once the cold facts are established, the OP will have a better idea of the extent to which the funeral director company has transgressed - or if they have transgressed.

pollypenny

I suspect that cremations are public ally acknowledged. The last two I have attended were listed outside the crematorium office.

I don't understand what the OP's issue is, really. She will have people expressing their condolences for a while, however hard that is to handle.

Nicki

The data protection act doesn't cover information held about deceased people, but presumably the OP's husband didn't ever have any contact with them, and most of the information which was held related to the OP with whom they had the contract. But I still don't think that they would have been holding any information other than in their own heads or memories about what happened at the service or how the OP and other mourners conducted themselves there.